The ReformationMartin Luther and John Calvin

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

• How did abuses in the Church spark widespread criticism?

• How did Martin Luther challenge Catholic authority and teachings?

• What role did John Calvin play in the Reformation?

PROTESTANT REFORMATION

• Popes competed with Italian princes for political power.

• Popes fought long wars to protect the Papal States against invaders.

• Some clergy promoted the sale of indulgences.

• Popes led lavish lifestyles and spent a great deal of money on the arts.

• The Church increased fees for services such as weddings and baptisms to finance worldly projects.

Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the Church had become increasingly caught up in worldly affairs.

Martin Luther• Salvation is achieved through faith

alone.

Luther rejected Church doctrine that good deeds were necessary for salvation.

• The Bible is the sole source of religious truth.

Luther denied other authorities, such as Church councils or the pope.

• All Christians have equal access to God through faith and the Bible.

Luther rejected the idea that priests and Church officials had special powers.

The idea of reform spread quickly

• Many clergy saw Luther’s reforms as the answer to Church corruption.

• German princes hoped to throw off the rule of both the Church and the Holy Roman emperor.

• Germans supported Luther because of feelings of national loyalty.

• Peasants hoped that Luther would support social and economic change.

John Calvin

• Calvin followed most of the teachings of Martin Luther. He also preached predestination, the idea that God had long ago determined who would gain salvation.

• In 1541, Calvin set up a theocracy in Geneva. A theocracy is a government run by Church leaders.

• By the late 1500s, Calvinism had taken root in Germany, France, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland.

• In several of these countries, Calvinists faced opposition and persecution from other religious groups.